Case Study: Rural Broadband Backbone

This case study looks at different
approaches to extending fibre
backbone into rural areas. Market forces alone are unlikely to extend
optical fibre backbone into rural areas, where access to high bandwidth
and reliable internet access can contribute significantly to a
comprehensive pro-poor ICT policy. Even more than in urban areas, high
bandwidth services such as videoconferencing can open opportunities to
poor communities in terms of service provision and communication and
can also support the aggregation of usage of low-bandwidth services
such as e-banking, VoIP telephony and delivery of some public services.
There are various options for the provision of rural broadband
backbone, from direct investment by a government-owned operator (as in
India), to the provision of “open access” fibre backbone through a
public/private consortium (as proposed in parts of Africa), to
mechanisms that encourage infrastructure sharing and build
complementary infrastructure. Funds can be raised through a variety of
universal access mechanisms, and significant savings are possible
through providing shared backhaul services to mobile operators who
otherwise tend to build low-bandwidth dedicated solutions. Once fibre
is available to rural communities, further mechanisms can be designed
to extend the services and benefits to poor users.